By Rusty Bryan
Published: May 15, 2012
AFN will offer people who can’t attend this year’s DODDS-Europe Division I championship high school baseball game a chance to view the contest live on their computers, AFN spokesman George Smith confirmed Tuesday. Smith, who added that AFN’s Pentagon Channel plans to telecast a recording of the game at noon June 9, said the season-finale will be streamed live on www.afneurope.net beginning at noon, May 26.
The Patch Panthers, unbeaten so far this season, are the two-time defending champion of the event, which is in its fourth season this year. Ramstein, also unbeaten in 2012, won the first European D-I tournament in 2009. The game will be played at Ramstein.
By Rusty Bryan
Published: May 15, 2012
Ashley Santos, who qualified for five events at the 2011 European championships as a Kaiserslautern sophomore, punctuated her junior year at Steele High School in Cibolo, Texas, by setting the school record in the 800 meters, 2:17.48, on April 28, and qualifying for the event in the 2012 Texas University Interscholastic League 5A championships.
According to her father, Hiram, Santos’ time in the regional qualifying meet was her personal best. Santos took the silver medal in last May's European 800 by clocking 2:21.98, second to teammate Rio Harris's 2:17.89.
By Rusty Bryan
Published: May 1, 2012
Regular readers of this space won’t be surprised to learn that the one who blogs here mangled the facts in an earlier posting about the Ankara Sports Association soccer tournament, played last weekend in the Turkish capital.
The ASA, which brought together five teams from the center and both ends of the country for its fifth annual soccer tournament, was founded in 2007 by then-Ankara athletic director Leigh Carignan, present Ankara AD Tim Redden gently corrected in a day-after email. Seeking an avenue for interscholastic athletic competition for his Trojan athletes, Carignan got together with his counterparts at Oasis International School, the Pakistani Embassy International Study Group and Bilkent School, all in Ankara, to provide the structure for a local sports league.
By Rusty Bryan
Published: May 1, 2012
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – Friday, the cause is serious, but the game’s just for fun when the unbeaten Kaiserslautern Red Raiders’ softball team invades neighborhood rival Ramstein for a slow-pitch exhibition game designed to raise money for breast cancer research.
Dubbed “Paint the Park Pink,” the game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Friday on the fields at Ramstein High School, according to Ramstein coach Kathy Kleha. Admission is by donation, and proceeds from the sale of cold drinks and baked goods also will be donated to cancer research.
By Rusty Bryan
Published: April 29, 2012
Ankara athletic director Tim Redden emailed Saturday night to announce that the Ankara Trojan boys had defeated the International Gateway Academy of Istanbul 1-0 in what amounted to the championship game of the four-day Ankara Sports Association soccer tournament.
IGA entered the finale with a 3-0 record and nine points after defeating the Incirlik Hodjas and Oasis International School and the Pakistani Embassy International Study Group, both located in Ankara. The Trojans had defeated Oasis and Incirlik, but had fallen to the PEISG and therefore had to win to tie IGA at 3-1 and claim the head-to-head tiebreaker.
By Rusty Bryan
Published: April 29, 2012
Camp director Brian Swenty has announced that the third annual Vilseck A.C.E. Volleyball Camp will be held Aug. 17-21 at Vilseck High School.
The fee of $175 includes a camp T-shirt and a volleyball, and covers instruction from the camp staff which includes Giovanni Galvez, women’s coach at Turado University and the Las Criollas Volleyball Club in Puerto Rico; Chris Hicks, an All-Air Force player who currently plays for Steinwenden-Enkenbach of the German federal league; Manny Miguel, an All-Armed Forces libero, and local high school coaches Jamie Coate of Bamberg, John Kohut of Patch and Erin Markus of Ramstein.
By Rusty Bryan
Published: April 24, 2012
This year’s hang-in-there award goes to former Ramstein tennis star Sean Stokstad, who four years after graduation settled an old score earlier this month at a college tournament in Indiana.
Stokstad, who plays for Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, found himself across the net from the University of Dubuque’s Nick Garcia, a Heidelberg grad who bested him in straight sets in the 2007 and 2008 European championship matches. It was the first time Stokstad had played Garcia since their high school days, and this time Stokstad prevailed, 7-5, 2-1, when three-time DODDS-Europe champion Garcia retired from the match.
By Rusty Bryan
Published: April 19, 2012
Filton Sports Academy’s Benjamin Herod emailed to say he’s been named head coach for the Football University All-Star European team which will play either Canada or Mexico in January. The game is to be part of the build-up to the annual Army All-American football game in San Antonio.
Interested high school football players who hold European passports can contact Herod at Benjamin.Herod@filton.ac.uk.
By Rusty Bryan
Published: April 18, 2012
That April-long break in the high school spring sports seasons comes to an end Friday, with soccer games at Patch and Ramstein and baseball and softball games at Hohenfels, Aviano and Vicenza. A full slate of baseball, softball, soccer and track is scheduled for Saturday. If you have no plans for those days, I’d recommend taking in a game near you – if nothing else, you can’t beat the admission price. High school sports remain Europe’s best spectator entertainment value.
In soccer, inter-regional match-ups are scheduled Friday when the International School of Brussels boys and girls travel to Ramstein and the Black Forest Academy squads invade Patch. In softball and baseball, Friday’s doubleheaders send Heidelberg to Hohenfels, Sigonella to Aviano and Naples to Vicenza.
By Rusty Bryan
Published: April 13, 2012
High school football coaches have organized a one-day, seven-on-seven camp for quarterbacks and receivers to take place at Ansbach, Germany, on Saturday, June 16, according to Ansbach coach Marcus George.
The camp will consist of morning and afternoon skills sessions, followed by a seven-on-seven tournament from 4-8 p.m.
Fee for the camp is $25 or 20 Euros per player and includes a camp T-shirt and three meals and drinks. Campers may spend the night before the camp at Ansbach High School.
For information, call George at DSN (314) 467-2808 or 2809 or German civ. 09802-7220. Commercial callers from outside of Germany must drop the initial zero after dialing country code +49. George’s email is marcus.george@eu.dodea.edu.
